Dancing in the Dark
by Enthusiastic Fish
Summary: Entry for the NFA Bone Chilling Challenge. A mysterious death in a small-town cemetery brings the NCIS team in to investigate...but all is not what it seems. No one goes in the cemetery after dark. ...but what if you've been invited? Three chapters and an epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is my entry in the NFA Bone Chilling Challenge. We're supposed to write the scariest story we could. I'm a big wimp when it comes to ghost stories and the like; so this may not be very scary, but I went for a kind of classic ghost story (with a little bit of NCIS case thrown in). It's short. Only three chapters and an epilogue.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NCIS or the characters and I'm not making money off this story.

* * *

**Dancing in the Dark  
**by Enthusiastic Fish

"_Invitation to Dance-  
__It's a Dance. And sometimes they turn the lights off in this ballroom.  
__But we'll dance anyway, you and I. Even in the Dark. Especially in the Dark.  
__May I have the pleasure?"  
__Stephen King_

**Chapter 1**

The body lay in the cemetery, surrounded by silent graves. A theatrical swirl of leaves danced in the breeze that blew between the headstones. Two statues of angels were the only witnesses of what had led to this scene.

And they said nothing.

The cemetery had a fence around it. It was locked every night. The caretaker hadn't seen anything when he had locked up for the night, but when the sun went down, he was very quick about his business. If there were questions, requests, he never filled them after the sun went down.

Never.

If asked why, he laughed and said that he clocked out at sunset and they didn't pay him enough to come back after hours.

That's what he said.

He never admitted to anything more.

When he got to the cemetery that morning to open it up, he did his usual walk through, making sure that no pranksters had scaled the fences and got up to mischief.

No one went into this cemetery in the dark.

Ever.

Which was why the body was such a shock. When he saw it, he didn't even approach to see if the man was dead or drunk or asleep or something else. He stopped. He looked at it. He looked around.

He hurried away to call the police.

Another dance of leaves swirled around the dead man.

Yes, he was dead. He had been dead for hours.

Since the night had brought him into the cemetery.

Since he had been called.

Since he had been asked to dance.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim stared at the angels, wondering why it was that he had decided to watch that _Dr. Who_ episode last night. What was it about October that made him want to watch the scary shows he stayed away from the rest of the year? Why did people deliberately seek to scare themselves?

Someone grabbed his shoulders, and Tim jumped with an undignified sound.

Tony laughed.

"You watched _Blink_, didn't you, Probie," he said.

Tim grumbled.

"Don't worry. I won't let the angels get you."

"Ha, ha," Tim said.

"Hey, the Weeping Angels are freaky," Tony said. "I don't blame you for worrying, but it's just a show."

"Very funny, DiNozzo," Tim said. "I'm well aware that it's just a show."

"Good. Would you two get to work?" Gibbs suggested...well, _suggest_ was a kind way of putting it. There was a definite threat behind the suggestion.

"Yes, Boss."

"Yes, Boss."

Tim knelt beside the dead man and got his fingerprints, just to verify what they'd already been told.

"Just like they said, Boss. Petty Officer Lorin Schmidt." He started looking through the information he could get handily. "No black marks in his public record."

Gibbs nodded and looked at Ducky.

"I can see no cause of death at first glance, Jethro," Ducky said, "but, of course, I won't know for sure until we get him home."

"Nothing at all?"

"No. There are no obvious wounds. None of the typical signs of poison. But there are deaths that can leave few outward signs." He pulled out the liver probe. "Now, that's odd."

"What?"

"Well...liver temperature indicates that death occurred approximately eleven hours ago...at midnight, but there is no sign of rigor mortis at all. Overnight temperatures were quite mild, nothing that should delay rigor mortis... Perhaps he was placed here with some other location for his death, perhaps he was frozen? Certainly, there's no sign of decomposition coincident with the easing of rigor. I will have to see when we get him home."

"Why would he _be _here?" Tony asked, looking around. "A cemetery isn't exactly a happening place."

"You'd better hope it's not," Jimmy said with a grin.

Tony laughed.

"Mr. Palmer, if you please?" Ducky said, mildly.

Jimmy cleared his throat and hurried to help while Tony got back to taking samples of the ground directly by the body.

Tim was walking a circle around the crime scene, seeing if there was anything to indicate how the man had got there. He found a footprint. Just one. Nothing to say that it belonged to their victim, but still, he marked it and took a picture. Then, he started walking back toward where Jimmy and Ducky were loading the dead man on a gurney.

He stopped by the angels and looked at them again. Then, he started to walk on...but he thought he saw something and turned back. He looked more closely.

Who had carved this statue? It was so detailed, so beautiful. The eyes almost seemed alive. He expected them to be blue. Yes, they would be blue. A deep, deep blue, like the ocean.

Tim stared.

He could almost imagine the hair blowing in the wind. It would be black, like ink. Yes, the hair would be black.

The face was...

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

There was a heavy thump. Tony turned around and saw Tim flat on his back, the camera a few inches away from his outstretched hand. His eyes were closed and he had only barely not hit a headstone.

"McGee!" he said and hurried over, Gibbs, Ducky and Jimmy right behind him.

He knelt down and tapped Tim's face. Tim awakened with a start and looked around in confusion.

"Tony? What...happened?"

"I don't know, Tim. You were standing there...and then, you were down for the count. Did the Weeping Angels get you after all?"

Tim laughed, but he still looked confused. Ducky knelt on the other side.

"Are you feeling dizzy, Timothy?"

"No. I feel fine." He started to sit up, but Ducky stopped him.

"Wait a moment," Ducky said. "Are you at all lightheaded or nauseous?"

"No. Really, Ducky, if it weren't for the fact that I'm on the ground, I'd be fine."

"All right, then, sit up...slowly."

Tim did.

"What do you remember?" Gibbs asked.

Tim looked around.

"There's a footprint over there," he said, pointing. "Then...I was coming back, seeing if I could find anymore. I stopped and... and..."

"And what?"

Tim looked around again.

"There isn't anyone else here, is there?"

"Like who?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know...I just..." Tim looked around yet again. "I feel like I...I saw...someone, but... I don't know. It's... nothing went fuzzy. I just don't have anything in my memory for... How long was I out?"

"A few seconds, maybe," Tony said.

Ducky took Tony's flashlight and shone it in Tim's eyes.

"Your pupils are contracting normally, Timothy, but perhaps you should take a break."

"I really feel fine," Tim protested.

"Let's get you on your feet, then."

Tim nodded and stood up, showing no discomfort. No wobbling, nothing.

"You're all right?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah! Yeah, I feel fine."

He looked around again. Tony was about to step away, but then, Tim's gaze lingered on one of the statues and suddenly, his eyes rolled up in his head and he started to fall. He would have, but Tony managed to catch him that time.

"Oh, dear," Ducky said.

Before he could direct Tony to ease Tim back to the ground, Tim's eyes opened again and he stood up.

"Uh...why are you standing so close to me, Tony?" he asked.

"You just passed out again, McGee," Tony said.

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"All right, McGee, you're done for today."

"Boss, I'm all right!"

Ducky took Tim's pulse.

"No other reaction. No racing pulse. No flushed face. Nothing. Timothy, if I hadn't seen you fall, I wouldn't have thought you had."

"See? I'm fine!"

"No, McGee," Gibbs said. "Tony and I will finish up here. You wait in the truck. When we get back, you're off for the rest of the day."

"But–"

"No! End of discussion," Gibbs said sternly.

Tim sighed. "All right."

He walked over, picked up his camera and headed for the truck.

"Duck?" Gibbs asked.

Ducky shook his head. "I can't give you an explanation, Jethro. He does appear fine...except that he collapsed twice."

Gibbs looked at Tony.

"I'll watch him, Boss."

Gibbs nodded and they got back to work.

Tony headed over to talk to the caretaker.

"You're the Navy cop?" he asked.

"Agent DiNozzo. Matthew Chocton?"

"Yeah."

"So, I know you already went through this with the local police, but just tell me what happened."

"I came at about eight this morning to open up the cemetery like I do every morning. I did a walkthrough, although it's not necessary. No one comes in here after dark."

"Not even kids playing pranks?"

"Not here."

"Why not? The fence isn't that high."

"Doesn't matter. There could be no fence and no one would come."

"Why not?"

Matthew shrugged uncomfortably. "It's a cemetery."

Tony smiled. "That's not enough, especially not this time of year."

Matthew swallowed. "People just don't like the cemetery. We don't go in during the night. No one does. Don't know why that guy was in here. Never seen him before. He's not from around here."

"Is the cemetery supposed to be haunted?"

Another nervous swallow.

"No one's ever said they saw ghosts in here...but no one comes in."

Tony was surprised by that. Usually, when there was this kind of reaction, there was _something_.

"How long have you worked here?"

"Well, only a few years. The old caretaker, he died of a heart attack. They found him in the cemetery."

"Ah."

"No, it was a heart attack. He was in his eighties. He'd been working here for a long time, ever since his wife died. He'd already had one heart attack earlier in the year. No one thinks anything else happened to him. We stayed away from the cemetery at night long before he died."

"Why?" Tony asked. "If it's not supposed to be haunted, if no one thinks something strange happened to the old caretaker, why the fear?"

"Didn't say I was scared."

"You didn't have to."

Tony raised an eyebrow.

"It's...it's just the rule. From the time I was a kid, my parents told me that no one goes into the cemetery after dark. If something bad happened in there, I don't know about it, but when I got hired to be the caretaker, I told them that I wasn't going in after hours. Not for anything. You won't find anyone on these streets after dark. No one will have seen when that guy came in here because no one looks."

Tony looked around. There were no homes nearby, but there were a few people walking by on the street.

"There are people now."

"It's not dark."

"You're absolutely right," Tony said. "Did you notice anyone else in the cemetery when you found the body?"

"No."

"And you didn't recognize him?"

"No."

"All right, thanks for your time, Mr. Chocton. If you think of anything, give us a call."

Matthew nodded and Tony walked over to join Gibbs.

"Didn't see anything this morning, said that no one will come near the cemetery after dark. It's the rule. Claims that no one thinks it's haunted, but..."

"But no one is willing to take the risk?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah," Tony said with a bit of a smile. "But he doesn't know the guy, says he's never seen him before."

"Okay. Take the truck back. I'll ask some questions in town."

"What about McGee?"

"Make sure he gets checked out and then talk to Petty Officer Schmidt's CO and his unit."

"On it, Boss."

"Make sure McGee goes home."

Tony nodded and headed for the truck. Tim was leaning against it, fiddling with his phone.

"Ready to go, Probie?"

"Yeah. I'm bored stiff. Anything interesting?"

"People in this town stay away from the cemetery after dark. Caretaker won't go in after the sun goes down."

"In the winter that would be like six o'clock."

"Yeah. It's the rule."

"Huh."

"You feeling all right?"

"I feel fine. I could have been helping you guys instead of twiddling my thumbs here."

"You get some free time. Enjoy it."

"During the work day... So what now?"

"We go back and I take you to get checked out."

"Oh, come on, Tony!" Tim protested. "I feel fine! I feel normal!"

"Then, it shouldn't take long. Passing out twice in a few minutes isn't normal, no matter _how_ you feel."

Tim sighed and got in the truck.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Gibbs found a local café that seemed to be a common hangout for the town. He started asking around, showing a picture of Petty Officer Schmidt. Surely _someone_ had seen him.

He struck out until a waitress came on shift.

"Yeah, I saw him. Couple of days ago."

"Really? What was he doing?"

"He asked for directions to the cemetery, but it was in the evening and I told him that the cemetery would be closed probably before he could get there."

"Was he okay with that?"

She nodded.

"Yeah. He...he said he was doing some genealogy and his family was from this area generations back. He wanted to find a grave there."

"He tell you which one?"

"No. I didn't ask. I just told him that he wouldn't be getting into the cemetery after dark. It closes then."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It's the rule."

Just like Tony had said.

"You asking about the cemetery?"

Gibbs turned around. There was an old woman sitting at a table.

"Yeah."

She smiled.

"Come on over and I'll tell you what I know."

Gibbs nodded and sat down.

"I'm Shirley."

"Jethro."

"Good strong name, there."

"Thanks. The cemetery?"

"I stay away from it after dark, just like everyone...now."

"Now?"

"But when I was child..."

"What?"

"We used to dare each other to walk by it. Not go in. That was a definite no-no, but to walk by."

"And?"

"And I did it once."

"What happened?"

"Nothing...on the surface."

"And beneath the surface?"

Shirley leaned forward.

"I heard music."

"What kind of music?"

"None I'd ever heard before and never wanted to hear again. There were voices singing and there were some kind of instruments playing but I didn't know what they were. I thought I saw something moving in the trees, but I didn't stick around to see more. I ran home, quick as I could. Never went back again."

"Not after dark?"

"Exactly. I don't know what's in there when the sun sets, but it's nothing that we should be seeing. So I stay away. I mind my business. That's what everyone in town does. If that man didn't do that...well, then, I'm not surprised he died."

"Seems like a harsh punishment."

"Did I say it was a punishment?"

"What is it, then?"

"Meddling in things you have no business meddling in. If you're not supposed to be there, you shouldn't be surprised when something that shouldn't happen happens."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Well, Mr. Palmer, I'm well and truly stumped. If Abigail doesn't come up with something from his bodily fluids, I can honestly say that I have no idea how this man died, nor why he is dead. Nor why there is still no sign of rigor mortis in his body. Nothing I'm seeing makes sense."

"No sign of freezing?" Jimmy asked.

"None. There is nothing to indicate that the liver temperature is incorrect, but neither is there anything to explain why rigor has not begun. This body is odd."

"I'll take the samples up to Abby."

"Do, and ask her to prioritize them. I want to know what killed this young man. He's not telling me anything."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"We'll let you know the results of the blood tests, Agent McGee, but I don't see anything wrong with you."

"That's what I've been saying!" Tim said, looking at Tony.

"Even so, two episodes of fainting..."

"I didn't _faint_," Tim grumbled.

Tony chuckled.

"Even so, you shouldn't set it aside so easily. That means something, even if we don't know what at this point. Pay careful attention to any physical changes and come back in. If we find something in your blood tests, we'll let you know."

"Thanks."

Tim jumped off the table and he and Tony left the hospital.

"See?" Tim said. "I'm fine!"

"Unexplained doesn't necessarily mean fine, and you're not coming back to work today."

"No way, Tony!"

"Gibbs' orders. You're not worth disobeying them."

Tim sighed again.

"All right. I'll go home. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. We'll try not to solve the case without you."

Tim stuck his tongue out at Tony for a second and then rolled his eyes.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim went to bed early that night and fell asleep quickly.

But he tossed and turned throughout the night.

Music haunted his dreams.

Calling him.

Inviting him to dance.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Matthew walked through the cemetery, getting ready to close the gates. Besides the police tape, nothing had changed. He walked by the crime scene and stopped and glanced at the angel statue.

He stared.

He could see her eyes as if they were real. A deep blue. Like the ocean.

He could almost see her hair blowing in the wind. Black like ink.

Her face...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Tony decided to pick Tim up on his way to NCIS, even if it wasn't on his way, really. It let him check on Tim without seeming too caring. He knocked on Tim's door.

Then, he knocked again.

"McGee!" he called.

Finally, there was movement inside and Tim opened the door. His hair was mussed and he was clearly only just awake.

"What are you doing here? What time is it?" he asked.

"Time for work, Probie."

Tim furrowed his brow and looked around.

"Oh."

"You all right?" Tony was a little worried about Tim's seeming confusion.

"Yeah. I must have overslept." He stepped back and let Tony in. "Why are you here?"

"I was going to give you a ride."

"Oh." Tim rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah. I feel fine. I had a dream, though. Weird dream."

"About what?"

"Music...and dancing..." Tim's voice sounded strange, almost distant. "Lots of dancing..." Then, he shook his head and smiled. "The girl was gorgeous."

Tony grinned. "_Must_ have been a dream, then. You dancing with a gorgeous girl."

"Ha ha. I don't need a ride. I can drive."

"I'll give you a ride anyway. I'm already here."

"Okay, okay. Just let me get my stuff."

Tim hurried back and Tony felt a kind of vague disquiet. He wasn't sure what it was. Then, his phone rang.

"DiNozzo," he said.

"_Get back to the cemetery,"_ Gibbs said._ "The caretaker was found dead this morning."_

"What?"

"_Same place as Schmidt. Call McGee."_

"I'm already at his place. We'll go right over."

"_Good. He all right?"_

"Seems fine to me."

"_Okay."_

Gibbs hung up.

"Hurry up, McGee. The caretaker of the cemetery was found dead this morning."

Tim came out of his room.

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"Okay. Almost ready."

Tim ran back into his bedroom and was out with all his stuff in under a minute. They drove quickly to the cemetery.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ducky had beat them there, and he was already kneeling over the body of Matthew Chocton.

"Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Same as the petty officer. No apparent cause of death, no rigor. Time of death...about midnight." Ducky looked up at Gibbs. "I'm stumped, Jethro. I'm not sure what this is. The police said that they called us simply because of our current case. If this is the same as the petty officer, Abigail will find nothing, as she already has once before. We can hope for better, but..." He spread his hands helplessly.

Tony looked at Tim who seemed back to normal.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim heard them talking but he felt a little strange, not bad, just not quite right. He wasn't going to admit to that, not after yesterday, but there was just something...something not right going on.

Still, he did his part, documented everything that needed documenting...until he found himself near the angel statues again. He looked up into the face of the statue.

It drew him in as it had before. It just amazed him how well it was carved. As if the sculptor had somehow managed to create a real person with a thin veneer of stone over the top of skin.

As he stared, he heard something.

Music.

An unearthly music.

It called him.

It asked him to dance.

...

There were sharp slaps on his face.

Tim blinked. He was lying on his back again. Just like the day before.

"Oh, no. Again?" he asked.

Ducky's face loomed over him. He was all concern.

"Timothy, you seem to be having a very bad couple of days. Are you sure feel all right? It's not a problem if you're not feeling well."

Tim sat up, ignoring the hands trying to hold him back.

"I feel completely fine! I don't know why I keep...doing this. I really don't!"

"What was the last thing you remember before waking up?" Ducky asked.

"Music? I think...maybe I heard some music?" Tim looked around, wondering if there was someone playing tricks on him or something.

"No music here, McGee," Tony said. "We're the only ones in the cemetery right now...at least the only live ones."

Tim couldn't figure out what had happened...again. He got to his feet, trying to pretend that he wasn't at all worried about apparent blackouts that he didn't have any connection to at all.

"You're sure that you feel all right?"

"Yes!" Tim said. "I didn't feel dizzy at all. I just ...maybe I could have heard some music, but...but I doubt I did. That doesn't make any sense."

"Did you have an MRI yesterday?" Ducky asked.

"No."

"Then, I suggest that you schedule one as soon as possible. This can't be normal, Timothy."

"Are you going to stop me from working again, Boss?"

"You shouldn't need to ask that, McGee," Gibbs said.

Tim nodded and sighed. "Wait in the truck?"

"No. I'm driving you to the hospital right now."

"But that'll leave Tony here alone!"

Gibbs looked at Tony and raised an eyebrow.

"Gotcha. Local LEOs, here I come," Tony said. "Don't worry, McGee. I'll be fine. Just me and my shadow."

"Yeah, fine."

Tim followed Gibbs to the car. They got in and started back to DC.

"What's going on, McGee?"

Tim shook his head. "Nothing from my perspective. I really don't know." He thought about the statue again and could see her eyes, those deep blue eyes that seemed to suck him in...

Suddenly, there was a squealing of brakes and Tim opened his eyes (when had they closed?). Someone was shaking his shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"You all right?" Gibbs asked.

Tim could actually see concern on _Gibbs'_ face.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You just passed out again."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"Boss, I–"

"Don't know what's going on, yeah. You sure about that?"

"Positive."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony was looking through his notes, not that there was much to see. It was a repeat of yesterday. The police had asked around and no one knew anything. No one was on the street by the cemetery last night. No one was _ever_ on the street by the cemetery. Matthew was single; so no one had missed him. The petty officer had been single as well.

So was the old caretaker, actually. A widower but still...

He felt like there was something wrong. He just didn't know what it was. He was pretty sure that it had everything to do with the town rule that no one go into the cemetery after dark. He looked at Gibbs' notes from the old lady in the café. Then, he pulled out his phone and called Gibbs.

"_What's up?"_

"Boss, I want to stay here tonight and see if anything happens in the cemetery after dark."

"_Not alone."_

"You want to let McGee come?"

"_No. He's been admitted."_

"Admitted? Why?"

"_Because he passed out again on the way to the hospital."_

"Oh. He okay?"

"_Says he is."_

Tony chuckled.

"Okay, so what do you think? I don't know what to expect, but I don't think it's a coincidence that both of these guys died in the same place. Ducky get anything?"

"_Nope. He's frustrated. No cause of death, nothing to explain what's going on. I'll be there."_

"You sure? That's another trip for you."

"_Yeah. Don't go over there until I get there. If something _is_ going on, we're not going to ask for trouble."_

"Right...we'll just ask for trouble in small groups. See you."

Tony hung up and then told the police what they'd decided. They said it was a bad idea, but if the Navy cops wanted to risk it, fine. He waited for Gibbs to get there and then, they parked the car on the street outside the cemetery, giving them a clear view of the place were two men had lost their lives.

"You think you'll see anything?" Gibbs asked.

"Don't know, but we've got to at least eliminate the location as a cause of death...and after what the locals have been saying, I'm glad I'm not here by myself."

Gibbs grinned and sipped at his coffee.

It would probably be a long night.

Tony _hoped_ it would be a long night. Short nights often meant something went wrong.

...or someone died.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"_Wake up...can't you hear the music?"_

Tim tossed and turned in the hospital bed. The EEG sensors on his head didn't help.

"_Come dance with me."_

The EEG readings started going crazy. All parts of Tim's brain started becoming extremely active, as if they'd been overstimulated.

"_The music is starting."_

Tim's eyes opened wide.

"_Can you hear it?"_

"Yes."

Tim stood up, pulled off the EEG, put on his clothes and left the room.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It was after eleven. Tony had been trying to read the history of the cemetery they'd compiled. They'd seen nothing, but it was so oppressively silent in that part of the town that Tony really want to turn on the radio, just to get rid of the ominous feeling.

Gibbs seemed unaffected.

Of course.

Then, there was something.

"Hey...Boss... someone's coming."

Gibbs leaned forward, trying to see through the dark.

Sure enough. Someone was walking down the street.

No. Not walking.

"Is he dancing?" Tony asked.

"Looks like it."

"Want to see who it is?"

Gibbs shook his head.

"Let's see what he does first."

The person came closer and closer.

Suddenly, the gates of the cemetery opened. They weren't automatic...and there was no one there to open them...but they opened anyway. Tony's eyes widened and he looked at Gibbs...who was no longer unaffected.

Then, there was a flash of light as the man got closer.

The light illuminated the man's face.

"McGee!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Tim was walking into the cemetery...no, he was dancing into the cemetery, arms out as if he was holding a partner. His eyes were open...for all that it mattered.

Tony looked at Gibbs.

Gibbs got out his gun and Tony followed suit.

Then, they got out of the car and ran for the cemetery.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_She was so beautiful. Tim didn't think he'd ever had such a beautiful dance partner. She melted in his arms. Steps he didn't know came to him with ease and they whirled in the dance together. He'd heard before that dancing was a vertical expression of a horizontal desire. He'd never believed it._

_Until now._

_He was in ecstasy as they danced, whirling together, as one. _

_The lights in the ballroom began to dim. He slowed._

"_Don't stop," she said. "You can't stop until the music is over."_

_Tim smiled._

_She smiled, too._

_They continued to dance._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim danced into the cemetery before they could get to him. In spite of the situation, they actually paused. Everyone in the town was afraid of going into the cemetery after dark. They'd seen the gate open without anyone there to do it.

Something was going on...

...but if Tim was getting pulled into the same thing that killed the other two men, they weren't going to stand by and wait.

They ran into the cemetery.

...and stopped, in shock, in the ballroom.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_The lights were almost out, but the music kept playing._

"_I'm getting tired."_

"_We can't stop until the music stops."_

"_How long will the music last?"_

"_Until it's over."_

_She smiled and twirled in his arms._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

If they looked back, they could see the dark street. They could see the gate.

If they looked forward, they could see a ballroom, the lights getting dimmer and dimmer.

Full of people.

Dancing.

The music, though...

"What is going on?" Tony asked in a whisper.

No one seemed to notice them.

"Find McGee. That's all that matters."

"I think being able to get out of here afterward will matter, too."

"Yeah...but we're not leaving without McGee."

The room was large. It was full.

They started into the crowd.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_The music didn't end. It kept going and going._

_Tim was getting very tired. He had tried to stop._

_He couldn't._

_His partner didn't seem affected at all._

"_When will the music stop?" he asked._

"_When it's over," she said again._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony barely suppressed a shout of surprise when he got his first clear look at the dancers.

There were ball gowns. Suits.

...and skeletons.

Everyone dancing was a skeleton.

"They're dead," he said, in shock.

"The dance of death," Gibbs said softly.

"Does that mean that Tim is..."

"No. He's alive. Meaning that he should stand out."

Tony nodded, glad to go along with what Gibbs said.

The music continued without ceasing.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"_I can't keep dancing," Tim said, tiredly. "I need to stop."_

"_You can't stop. Not until it's over."_

_Tim tried to pull away from his partner._

_He couldn't._

_Then, he really looked her in the eye for the first time._

_...and there was no eye._

_Instead of the deep blue eyes he'd thought she had, he was looking into the empty holes of a skull._

"_Keep dancing," the skeleton said. "We have to keep dancing...until it's over."_

_Tim tried to pull away more frantically._

_He couldn't._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"I can't get a good look at anyone, Boss," Tony said.

Gibbs looked at the whirl of dancers. Never stopping. The speed of the dance seemed to increase, making it even harder to see in the almost darkness of the room. It was almost a frenzy instead of a dance.

"McGee!" he shouted.

Nothing.

Gibbs looked at Tony.

Tony didn't particularly want to attract the attention of a whole bunch of dead people to himself, but he could see Gibbs' point. They took a breath and shouted together as loudly as they could.

"MCGEE!"

The whirl of dancers stopped. For a terrifying moment, there was a mass of skeletons staring at them.

Then, the ballroom vanished, the dancers vanished. ...or most of the dancers vanished.

They were standing in the cemetery.

In the darkness.

Tim was in the grip of a woman. He was fighting to get free.

He looked pale, almost transparent.

The woman glowed in the dark.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"_We can't stop until it's over," she said again._

"_When will it be over?" Tim asked._

"_Never."_

_She smiled._

"MCGEE!"

_The sound penetrated the music all around him. Tim frantically tried to pull away from his partner. His captor._

_The ballroom faded away. He was in the cemetery beside the statues. The woman was there, no longer looking like a skeleton, but no longer looking human, either. Her face was superficially human but there was something else in her features._

"_No!"_

"_We will not stop until it's over," she said again. _

"McGee!"

_Tim tried to turn toward the sound, but he couldn't. He couldn't move away. He couldn't fight her. Things started to get fuzzy for the first time in the two days of strange events._

"_I must have you!" she said. "I must!"_

"Let him go!"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim was started to fade. Literally. Somehow they knew that if they didn't stop this, there would be another body on the ground, another mysterious death that couldn't be explained by anything in the real world.

"Let him go!" Gibbs demanded.

The woman...for lack of a better word...looked at them. Her eyes seemed to glow with an unearthly light.

"We will not stop until it's over," she said.

They had their guns, but would they help?

Tim was obviously trapped, but would she have a body they could really shoot?

The glow of her eyes surrounded Tim and he began to sink toward the ground. She let him go, seemed to grow larger, brighter.

Gibbs didn't even pause. He fired.

But she didn't react until the bullet hit the statue. The light flickered.

Gibbs looked at Tony and, as one, they started shooting at the statue. The woman began to scream.

So did Tim.

"He is MINE!" she screamed.

"No way," Gibbs said. "He belongs to me. He's on my team and you can't have him."

She came toward them, her hands out, ready to grab hold. The glow around Tim was fading. It collected around her hands. She reached Tony, grabbed hold of him.

Instantly, he felt himself start to weaken.

"I will not lose you!" she said. "I will not!"

Tony tried to fight her, but something was stopping him.

Then, suddenly, she screamed again and again.

He felt stronger and pulled away from the glow.

One last scream.

"I will not go!"

Tony fell to his knees.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_The statue._

_Somewhere inside him, he noticed that the statue was being destroyed and it weakened her. _

_The glow was gone. He felt as though he was nothing, but if he was, he would try to stop her before he disappeared completely. _

_Weakly, he pulled himself to the statue. He tried to stand. He tried to fight for energy he didn't have. He pushed at the statue._

_Nothing happened._

_He pushed again._

_It tottered._

_Once more._

_It fell from the pedestal and smashed to pieces on the ground. He turned._

_A black shape appeared and began to surround the woman._

_He could see a human...ish...figure. Arms around her. The black cape swirled about the pair of them. It was almost intimate._

"_It is your time. Long ago. It is your time."_

_She screamed._

_The blackness around her was complete._

_She screamed._

_She vanished._

_The music stopped._

_Tim fell to the ground._

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Gibbs knelt beside Tony.

"You all right?"

"Yeah...McGee."

Gibbs pulled Tony to his feet and they ran over to where Tim was lying on the ground beside the shattered remains of the statue.

He wasn't moving.

"Tim," Tony said.

They rolled him over.

"Tim."

He was pale.

He wasn't moving.

Tony looked around the cemetery.

It was empty.

"Come on, McGee, snap out of it. I wanna go home."

Tim still didn't move.

A swirl of black.

Gibbs stood and faced the dark shape.

"It's not his time," Gibbs said.

Tony shook Tim.

"Wake up, Tim. Wake up!"

"You have the one you should have," Gibbs said quietly. "It's not his time."

There was a moment of complete silence. Then, the black shape whirled away.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim took a breath and opened his eyes.

He was on his back...in the cemetery. He sat up quickly.

Too quickly.

A black curtain started to fall over his eyes. He began to fall back, but someone caught him.

"You all right now, McGee?"

"Tony?" Tim asked.

"You blind, McGee?"

Tim blinked a few times. His vision began to clear. He looked at Tony.

"No. I don't hear the music anymore."

"Good. You shouldn't be hearing _that_ music."

"She was dead," Tim said.

Gibbs knelt down.

"They were all dead."

"Yeah, they were," Gibbs said.

"Why?"

"Don't know...but I think she's gone now," Tony said.

"You think you can get up?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know."

"Why did you leave the hospital?"

"I heard the music."

"What music did you hear there?"

"The music," Tim said.

"Let's get you out of here," Gibbs said.

Tim nodded, but he was still wondering about everything that had happened. Gibbs and Tony lifted him to his feet, and he nearly collapsed again.

"Gotta stay awake until we get out of here, McGee," Tony said.

"Sure...okay...just..." Tim looked around.

"Let's go, McGee," Gibbs said. "Let's just get out."

They made their unsteady way to the gate.

It was closed.

"It was open before," Tony said.

Tim looked at the gate. He was too tired to worry about it. He sagged lower and then felt Gibbs push him over onto Tony. He walked to the gate, fiddled with the lock for a few minutes and the pushed open the gate.

Tim felt Tony lug him to the gate. As they went through to the street, Tim felt a sudden pull. He heard a burst of music and he turned back. He thought he saw lights...

"Keep moving, McGee," Gibbs said.

"But...the music..."

"There's no music," Tony said. "Let's go."

Tim allowed himself to be pulled out of the cemetery.

As soon as they were on the sidewalk, he felt himself fading away. He sagged again.

"Wait until we're in the car, McGee."

"Don't know if I can..."

"You can," Gibbs said.

The curtain of black fell over his vision again. He was leaning against the car, unable to see anything.

Then, he was sitting in the car. Then, he was lying on the seat.

"Now, you can pass out, McGee."

"Okay," Tim said.

...and passed out.


	4. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Tim woke up.

He was afraid to open his eyes. Would he be back there again?

He was afraid.

"McGee? Tim? You awake?"

Tim cracked open his eyes...and then opened them up more.

"I'm back in the hospital," he said, with a bit of wonder.

Tony nodded.

"Yeah. We got you back here. You left a lot of chaos when you left."

"Did I?"

"Yeah, your EEG was nuts. When you came back, it was like you were in a coma."

"EEG?" Tim felt his head. Yes, there were the sensors. He could feel them. The monitor readout looked normal.

"Yeah."

"There was that...woman. With...blue...eyes...or no eyes at all."

"Yeah."

"You saw her?"

"Yeah."

Tim looked around. She wasn't there.

"Who was she?"

"We're not sure, but there was a woman who was buried right there by that statue. Died after being...abandoned by her husband."

Tim nodded.

"She danced."

"We don't know that."

"She danced. She was beautiful."

"She was going to kill you. If she was doing to you what she did to me...she was sucking your life away."

"Yeah," Tim said. "She was beautiful, though."

"Maybe."

"I almost died."

"Yeah, you did."

Tim nodded. For some reason...that wasn't... There was that music...

"Why me?"

"I don't know."

"Why there?"

"I don't know that, either, but..."

Tim blinked. "But what?"

"Ducky told us. He hadn't even thought of it before. The name of the town."

"Yeah...Rincan Bhais...or something. Ducky said it must be Irish."

"Yeah. It's Irish, or it used to be Irish before two hundred years of corruption. Means...dance of death."

Tim's eyes widened.

"That's the name of the _town_?"

Tony nodded.

Tim leaned back and thought about it.

"You think that happens every night there?"

"I don't know."

"What about–?"

"We don't know that, either...but both of the bodies were in the same place as you were." Tony paused for a moment. "Gibbs and I saw it, the dance, for what it's worth."

Tim thought about it some more.

"The music was beautiful. Strange but...but beautiful. I've never heard anything like it before."

Tony cleared his throat but said nothing.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"When my time comes, when it's my turn to die...do you think I'll hear the music again?"

"I don't know, Tim. Do you want to?"

Tim took a deep breath and let it out.

"It was the dance of the dead, the music of the dead."

"Then, wait until you're dead to hear it again."

Tim nodded.

"I'm okay with that."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The sun went down.

The music began.

The dead danced in the dark.

FINIS!


End file.
